"American Horror Story" Recap: There's A New Body In The Basement

So, remember last week when we said there's no way Violet (Taissa Farmiga) was dead like the internets theorized? Well we can't be right all the time. This episode was pretty much dedicated to that twist, and doing some housecleaning before we get to the final run of the season. Let's get into what went down.

When In Doubt, Blame Tate

At this point it seems like Tate (Evan Peters) is responsible for every mystery and misfortune swirling around this season. In addition to being the Rubber Man, he's also the one who deep-fried Larry's (Denis O'Hare) face out of typical, son-hates-Mom's-new-man spite. In this week's chilling pre-credits flashback sequence, we learn that Constance (Jessica Lange) got her wish and used Larry to move her family back into Murder House, telling Tate and Addy (Jamie Brewster) that Beau (full name: Beauregard, which sucked for him) died of natural causes and their dad ran away with the maid. Yeah, ran away to the basement, rather.

Tate's had enough of the charade and loads up his Colombine kit, snorting coke, naturally. But instead of going straight to school to commit the horrific school-shooting act we've already witnessed, we discover that he first made a pit-stop at Larry's job, where he promptly and mercilessly re-enacted a key scene from The Dark Knight, with a match, a tank of gas, and Larry's face. Cue badass exit where no one attempts to stop him while Larry flails in the background.

There's Something About Violet...

If it wasn't crystal clear last week that Violet has actually been dead for quite some time, it was glaringly obvious this week as soon as the truant officer showed up to issue her a notice (she hasn't been in school for 16 days) and Ben (Dylan McDermott) learned he had something smelly in the basement. Something that's attracting flies.

That didn't make the reveal itself any less cool, though, when Tate put on his Rubber Man villain costume and gave Ben the smackdown, finally clueing Violet into his violence. Because apparently learning that he shot up his school wasn't enough. Anway, Violet freaks out when Tate proposes they commit a double suicide, Romeo & Juliet style, with pills; scared, Violet tries to run away from the house, only to learn that passersby can't see her and each time she leaves she just ends up back in the house.

That's when Tate finally decides to show her what the poor exterminator discovered right before Tate (who else?) killed him: Violet's corpse, all decrepit, fly-filled, and looking like one of The Ring videotape's victims. She's been dead ever since she OD'd on pills, and, just like Tate, simply doesn't remember dying. Until now. Ben and Vivien (Connie Britton) are officially the most neglectful parents ever.

Even worse than when she found out about Tate but decided to keep fucking with him, Violet seems way too cool learning about her demise. A 16-year-old girl should take more than five minutes to adjust that she's gonna be stuck in the same house for all of eternity. But hey, she's got plenty of company.

Sucker For Love

While Violet was busy running in circles, Constance was being grilled by two detectives thirsty to pin Travis, excuse us, "The Boy Dahlia," on her. Upon hearing about his gruesome murder, she immediately thinks Larry did it out of jealousy and pays him a nasty visit, making it clear just how little he means to her.

That's enough for Larry to remove his rose-colored glasses and start planning a frame job to hurt Constance as much as she hurt him. That is, until a stop by the Murder House's ever-busy basement elicits a ghostly visit from his wife and dead daughters. As she reminds him, his wife lit the match that burnt her and the kiddies alive, but he broke the vow. Thus, it's time to do penance. Larry catches the case for Constance, but can't pass up another chance to play himself one last time, by declaring his one-sided love for Constance to the cold-hearted woman herself, before he's shipped off to Illinois. Goodbye, Larry the Burn Guy. You were an entertaining little oddball and a tragic fool for love. We wish you the best of luck in the prison house theater system.

So where do we go from here? Well the next, and last, two episodes are called "Birth" and "AfterBirth." This should be fun, and gory.